Gujarati language Gujarati written in gujarati Gujarati (also sometimes Gujerati) is a language native to the state of Gujarat in western India. It is an Indo-European language, of the Indo-Aryan family, spoken by about 46 million people worldwide, making it the 23rd most spoken language in the world. Of these, roughly 45.5 million reside in India, 150,000 in Uganda, 250,000 in Tanzania, 50,000 in Kenya and roughly 100,000 in Pakistan. A considerable population of Gujarati speakers exists in North America and the United Kingdom as well. In the United Kingdom, Leicester (Midlands) and Wembley (North London) are two areas popular with Gujaratis. History The history of the language can be traced back to 12th c. CE. A formal grammar of the precursor of this language was written by Jain monk and eminent scholar Hemachandra-charya in the reign of Rajput king Siddharaj Jayasinh of Patan. This was called Apabhransa grammar, signifying a language which is a corrupted form of languages like Sanskrit and Ardha-magadhi. The earliest literature in the language survives in oral tradition and can be traced to two stalwarts, the Krishna devotee and great egalitarian Narasinh Mehta (later a source of inspiration to Mahatma Gandhi) dated to be in the 17th century. The story of Narasinh Mehta himself was composed as a long narrative ballad by Premananda, accorded the title "maha-kavi" or great poet by modern historians of the language. His date is perhaps late 17th century. Other than this a large number of poets flourished during what is now characterised as the bhakti or devotional movement in Hinduism, a movement of the masses to liberate the religion from entrenched priesthood. Premananda was a "vyakhyan-kar", a traveling story teller, who narrated his subject in song form and then perhaps elaborated on the lines in prose. His style was so fluent that the long poems running into hundreds of lines were memorised by the people and are still sung during the morning routines. In this sense the oral tradition of the much more ancient Vedas was clearly continuing in India till late. Premananda's famous poetry-stories deal with epic themes couched in stories of mythical kings, and the puranas. He also wrote a drama based on Narasinh Mehta's life capturing his simplicity and his disregard for worldly divisions of caste and class. Modern exploration into Gujarat and its language is credited to British administrator Alexander Kinloch Forbes. During the nineteenth century at a time when the British rule was more consolidatory and progressive this gentleman explored much of the previous thousand years of the history of the land and compiled a large number of manuscripts. The learned body devoted to Gujarati language is named after him, Farbas Gujarati Sabha with headquarters in Mumbai. Classification Gujarati is a language belonging to the Indo-Iranian group of the Indo-European languages. Geographic distribution Official Status It is officially recognized in the state of Gujarat, India. Dialects As with most languages, there are regional dialects which differ in some minor regard. Some of them are listed below along with subdivisions. Standard Gujarati Saurashtra Standard Nagari Bombay Gujarati Patnuli Gamadia Gramya Surati Anawla Brathela Eastern Broach Gujarati Charotari Patidari Vadodari Ahmedabad Gamadia Patani Parsi Kathiyawadi Jhalawadi Sorathi Holadi Gohilwadi Bhavnagari Kharwa Kakari Tarimuki Ghisadi Derived Languages Kutchhi Sounds Grammar Vocabulary The Gujarati spoken today takes considerable vocabulary from Persian due to the more than five centuries of the rule of Sultan kings who were Muslim. These words occur mostly in reference to worldly and secular matters. The other elements of the language however draw quite a lot on the native tribes of the specific region, as listed above under Dialects. Also due to centuries of trade with European countries such as Portugal and England, many, many words in Gujarati are naturally the same as Portuguese and English. Writing system It is written in Gujarati script, an abugida very similar to Devanagari (the script used for Sanskrit and Hindi), but without the line at the top of the letters and a few other differences. External link Gujarati Language and Literature Gujarati Wikipedia Gujarati Wiktionary Gujarati Editor Most Popular Articles: Music    Musical Instruments    Guitar    Classical Music    History    Music Definition    Country Music    Rock Music    Pop Music    Hip Hop    Rap    DJ    Video Games    Casino Games    Poker    Blackjack    Casinos    Real Estate    Loan    Auction    eBay    Marketing    Search Engine Optimization    File Sharing    MP3    Music Industry    Kazaa    Internet    Supermodel    Fashion    Fashion Designers    Erotica    Modeling    Clothing    Boots    Shoes    Diamond Engagement Rings    Diamond    Rugs    Gospel Music    Affiliate    E-Commerce    Radio This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License at http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html You may copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license. You must provide a link to http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html To view or edit this article at Wikipedia go to http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gujarati_language